


Robin's don't really fly at night

by bellaP



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Bruce Wayne is Batman, Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Tim Drake is Red Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:27:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25326121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellaP/pseuds/bellaP
Summary: Everyone learns the true meaning of the name 'Robin'.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 123





	Robin's don't really fly at night

It had been one of the rarer moments that the batfamily was hanging out. They knew it probably wouldn’t last. Jason would probably be fighting with Dick or Bruce next week, and Dick would probably be upset with Bruce for something. Damian had come a long way from when he first arrived, but he also still had a long way to go, and his relationships with everyone in the family still seemed fragile. So, even though no one would admit it, they were all savoring this moment. All together, sitting in Dick’s apartment after patrol. 

Patrol went about as well as it usually does. Scarecrow had broken free from Arkham and they needed all hands on deck to take him down. At one point, Scarecrow had taken hostages and dropped his fear gas on the building he had kidnapped them in. Nightwing and Red Robin had been on that particular side of town when it happened, and they ended up giving the hostages the antidotes they had. Batman had left to hunt down Scarecrow, and that's when Red Hood and Robin had found Nightwing and Red Robin fighting off the effects of the gas. After everyone was secure and Scarecrow was back in Arkham they all seemed to have an unspoken understanding that none of them were going to get to sleep that night, and that’s how they ended up at Dick’s apartment. 

“It’s ridiculous that people even think that Superman would beat Wonder Woman in a fight! I mean come on, you take out one piece of Kryptonite and that man is down in like two seconds.” Jason tossed another piece of popcorn into his mouth before continuing his passionate rant. 

“I mean, Diana has no known weaknesses, right?” He turned to look at the puzzled faces greeting him. 

“No one’s saying you're wrong, Jay.” Dick said from where he stood at the refrigerator. “We know Diana’s a badass.” Dick furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the wrapped sandwich he had in his fridge, trying to remember when he had bought it and if it was still good. 

“All I asked was if you thought they ever sparred against each other and went all out, powers and all. Obviously Diana would win.” Tim had the hood to his sweatshirt up and was chewing on one of the cords from his hoodie. He was seated on Dick’s armchair with a blanket draped over his shoulders. He had insisted he wasn’t cold, but Dick had put it on him anyway and Tim hadn’t moved since. 

Fear gas was always a weird thing. They all had pretty messed up lives so the things they saw were definitely just as bad, but they never really wanted to talk about them. Sometimes it was the silent gestures that meant the most. Tim had been silent the whole ride back to Dick’s apartment and Dick had been trying to remain uplifting, but no one could ignore the way his hairline was still red from how hard he had been tugging at his hair. 

“This conversation is utterly ridiculous. Why would you pin members of the league against each other? That’s like having Batman and Superman fight each other.” Damian was focused on Dick’s TV as he and Jason were in a very intense game of Mario Kart. 

Dick practically choked on the water he was drinking as he tried to contain his laughter. Three heads turned in his direction as the Mario Kart game was put on pause. 

“No.” Tim stared at Dick with disbelief. 

“You mean?” Jason was putting two and two together in his head, but he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know the answer. 

“Father wouldn’t be so stupid as to-” 

“That’s a story for another time.” Was all Dick said before he winked and disappeared into his room. 

Jason, Tim and Damian sat in thought for about two minutes before remembering their tournament and immediately all their attention was back on the game. 

Dick came out of his room five minutes later, freshly showered and with a hoodie and sweats on. He walked over to his window sill and took a seat watching Jason and Damian finish their round. 

“Suck on that, Dami.” Jason laughed at the scowl on Damians face and already began setting up the next round. 

“Alright, Dickie you ready to get creamed?” Jason leaned back on the couch and dramatically stretched out his arms to prove he was ready for another round. 

After there was no response, Jason turned his head to where Dick had been perched by the fire escape. 

“Dick, you good?” Dick hadn’t even realized he was completely zoned out, until he had felt three sets of eyes on him. He had been transfixed by the Robin that had landed just outside the window. 

“Wha- yeah. Yeah. This bird just came outta nowhere.” Jason, Tim and Damian had no doubt noticed the bird after Dick had pointed it out, but none of them really had anything to say about it. Dick shut the window and walked back over to the couch doing a dramatic flip over it to sit next to Jason. Jason rolled his eyes and Dick tried to ignore the concerned glances he was no doubt getting, before picking up his controller and choosing his character. 

“Jay, I don’t even think you're ready for what’s coming your way. Let’s let the pro handle this.” 

Dick had ended up beating Jason, Tim and Damian in the tournament and got up to do a dramatic bow. 

“Thank you all for trying, and failing, to beat the best of the best. There’s a reason I’m the OG.” Dick pretended to wave to his fans and blew kisses into the fake audience before sitting back down and picking up the remote, fully prepared to pick out a movie. 

“Yeah, whatever Goldie. We all wore the yellow and red.” Jason scoffed, but was secretly impressed with his brother’s Mario Kart skills. Dick just laughed and eventually they all settled on a movie. 

None of them had really been paying attention to the movie. It was some mystery that they had all solved within the first ten minutes, but they sat and watched it anyway. Dick hadn’t been paying attention after he had figured it out. All he could see were his parents falling and falling and thud. Over and over. Halfway through the movie Tim shifted a little uncomfortably and then stared at Dick. 

“Why the name Robin?” Tim asked, and that seemed to snap Dick out of his stupor. 

“Huh?” Dick genuinely didn’t know what Tim was asking, but he was racking his brain for possible answers. 

“I mean. For all my digging all those years ago, I never could figure out why you chose the alias ‘Robin’.” Tim played with his hoodie uncomfortably once more, unable to meet Dick’s eyes. 

“I wondered that too. I mean, Batman and Robin? I mean I get the whole lightness and darkness blah blah, but it doesn’t really make sense.” Jason snorted before adding, “I mean ‘batman’ isn’t exactly a clever name either, but what inspired ‘Robin?’” Jason popped a handful of popcorn into his mouth as if the whole conversation was no big deal. 

Damian listened in with feigned disinterest and Tim continued to play with his hoodie. 

“I mean, it’s like you said. The whole lightness and darkness thing.” Dick tried to keep his face impassive. He didn’t know what his brothers’ reaction to the meaning of the name would be, and he wasn’t sure he wanted tonight to be the night he found out. 

“Yeah, but then why not call yourself ‘Dove’ or ‘Parrot’ or-” Jason cut himself off laughing at his own joke. 

“You don't exactly have any originality when it comes to names, ‘Red Hood’. I wouldn’t say you really have any room to judge here.” Dick laugheed and attempted to divert the attention away from the original question before his brother’s tried to press further. 

“I think what Todd is trying to get at, in his own childish way, is why specifically a Robin? They aren’t exactly strong, powerful beings, and there are plenty of other ‘light’ or ‘happy’ animals you could have chosen.” Damian was staring at Dick trying to read his expression, but Dick’s face remained impassive. 

Dick took a drink from his water bottle, well aware of the three pairs of eyes on him and nonchalantly said, “It was my mother’s name. For me. She called me that. Her little Robin.” Dick smiled tiredly and awaited a response from his siblings. He didn’t know if they would be better off with that knowledge, or if it even affected them in any way. 

“And he just… gave that away?” Jason threw up his arms in annoyance. “That’s not his to give away.” 

Jason looked torn between feeling upset for taking Dick’s name or feeling rage towards Bruce for just giving it to him. Tim just looked sadly at the ground, and Damian kept his eyes on Dick, who had gotten up to get more water. 

“He gave it away.” Dick walked back over to the couch and did another flip landing right beside Jason. “But I don’t think I’d change that. Robin means much more now.” Dick smiled, only a little sadly, before turning his attention back to the TV. 

Jason didn’t know what he would have done with that piece of knowledge had he known it back then, and Tim and Damian seemed to be thinking the same thing. The one thing they were sure of was that ‘Robin” meant family, and none of them were ready to give up on that. 

“Come on Brenda! It’s clearly the butler! No! Don’t go into the basement!” Dick groaned and threw popcorn at the TV, earning an amused snort from Jason.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!


End file.
